"The facts I have, I don't believe it (medal) is in doubt. We have confidence in the process we're going through. We have confidence in the ASADA and the AFL investigation that the truth will come out."

AFL Players' Association chief executive Matt Finnis said it was too early to speculate about penalties or the stripping of awards.

"We understand the concept of strict liability and personal responsibility but I don't think we can also ignore the principles of fairness and justice.

"And I think any system which would seem to place heavy penalties on somebody who has acted in accordance with the directions of their employer ... as they are required to do under their contract, and has been the victim of some kind of misrepresentation or even deception - that would be completely unacceptable.''

"Any calls or commentary around players being stood down or having awards stripped off them are, at the very best, premature," Finnis said.

"But I think they are also very unfair to players who are in a very untenable situation as a result of decisions taken by the club."

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, a Brownlow winner himself in a three-way tie in 2003, was taken aback by Watson's comments.

"I was sitting there and it was surprising. It was a bit of a departure from the straight bat we had seen before that," Buckley said.

Asked if Watson should be allowed to keep the Brownlow, Buckley said: "I'll let others pontificate on that one."

World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey has said it would be up to the AFL to decide whether to strip Watson of his Brownlow.

As the Bombers were in damage control yesterday, Mr Fahey told the Herald Sun that there were no "ifs or buts" about banned substances.

"Ninety-five per cent of athletes blame someone else," Mr Fahey said.

"There's strict liability here ... if it's in your system, you take the consequences."

The club is fighting to avoid drug bans for its players over the club's 2012 supplements program.

AFL chief Andrew Demetriou last night declined to discuss the fate of Watson.

Asked if it was appropriate he line up against the West Coast Eagles in Perth tomorrow night, a league spokesman said: "We are not going to pre-empt the investigation. That means we will wait until it is completed."

The anti-doping probe is expected to be completed before the finals, but the fate of Essendon, its players and even Watson's Brownlow Medal now hang in the balance.

Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says players like Jobe Watson have been lead down a path they shouldn't have been.

It emerged yesterday Watson had been briefed not to answer questions about the drugs investigation too specifically prior to his admissions about the anti-obesity drug on Fox Footy's show, On The Couch, on Monday night, which sparked the latest storm at Windy Hill.

He said on the show: "My understanding after it being given through (the club's doctor) Bruce Reid and the club is that I was receiving AOD, yes."

Mike Sheahan told 3AW today he wanted to ask Watson if he was worried his Brownlow was at risk, but Essendon vetoed the question.

Watson's admission was already known to the AFL via the joint ASADA-AFL investigation, and the AFL knows how many players have taken the anti-obesity drug.

Watson said yesterday: "The investigation with the AFL and ASADA is ongoing and I look forward to that investigation and its findings being made public. But I can't comment more on the specifics of the investigation."

Source: Herald Sun

An Essendon spokesman said last night: "Our club considers that our players have acted reasonably during the 2012 season.

"The club notes that it is yet to be determined whether any of our players in the 2012 season were given prohibited or performance-enhancing substances."

Watson's manager, Craig Kelly, said: "As manager of several (Essendon) players, we will wait to get all the facts and be presented with all the findings.

Jobe's father, Bombers legend Tim Watson, said he was confident Essendon's players would be cleared.

"They were given this as part of their supplement program ... but they (the club) and the players are certain that they haven't taken a banned substance," he told SEN.

"I guess the contentious thing here will be whether or not it's a banned substance and whether or not the information they were given at the time about it being a banned substance and the properties of AOD."

Mr Fahey said WADA would become involved in the Essendon doping probe only if it thought there had been an injustice.

"If we believe someone did not deal with the case appropriately, we've got a right of appeal on behalf of the sporting body or on behalf of the athlete," he said.

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